MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday urged President Robert Mugabe to step down from active politics and warned him against contesting the forthcoming elections saying the veteran leader risked embarrassment and loss of his legacy.
Addressing a campaign rally at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera yesterday, Tsvangirai said he was praying hard for a sense of reason to prevail on President Mugabe.
“I pray very hard that reason prevails on him for the sake of his legacy, country and children. He should listen to the sixth sense that always advises people correctly and say I have to rest. I am saying this advisably that ‘old man, if I were you I would have taken a rest, but if you want to stand as Zanu PF candidate, I would rather not campaign’. I will say just look for vision and vote,” said Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai said he had asked Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa what new things his party had on offer for Zimbabwe after 31 years of uninterrupted rule.
“I asked Mnangagwa and said after 30 years as minister, what new thing can you bring to the people?” Turning to elections, Tsvangirai said: “I’m very serious on elections and the coming elections are like the 1980 elections to change the government. They are watershed elections. Violence has become a burning issue as we approach elections next year. The elections must be in line with the Sadc principles.
“If you are 60 years and below supporting Zanu PF, there is no vision of the past, there is vision for the future. You can’t expect new things from (President) Mugabe who is acting like a driver driving looking through the rear view mirror. You can’t have a party with a vision based on the past,” said Tsvangirai.
